Category Archives: Employee Info/Tips – Litigation – Mediation

Infosys Class Action: 2nd Amended Complaint Filed After Motion to Dismiss Denied

As posted here, clients of the attorney-author and co-counsel are pursuing a federal class action lawsuit against Infosys Limited Inc. (“Infosys”). The lawsuit is pursued by a proposed class of job applicants and employees who challenge under Federal employment discrimination laws Infosys’ alleged policies and conduct to discriminate in favor of South Asian workers and against non-South Asian workers. For example, as alleged in the suit, Infosys expressly prefers to hire South Asians over non-South Asians and, in furtherance of its discriminatory objectives, disproportionately employs H-1B (and other visa) workers from India. As alleged, over 90% of Infosys’ 15,000 + United States employees are South Asian (predominantly Indian).

On September 30, 2014, the Court issued an Order that denied Infosys’ pending motion to dismiss (which had attempted to end the case) and the Court allowed the plaintiff workers to file a second amended class action complaint.

On October 2, 2014, the Court formally accepted, for filing, the second amended complaint.

The attorney-author of this website article, Michael Brown, is among the attorneys representing the workers pursuing the lawsuit, along with attorneys Daniel Kotchen and Michael von Klemperer of Kotchen & Low LLP and Vonda K. Vandaveer of V.K. Vandaveer, PLLC.

Please contact attorney Michael Brown at 920-757-2488 or mbrown@dvglawpartner.com if you have any information or questions about the case.

The second amended complaint’s new allegations include information from a former Infosys recruiter, indicating that he and other recruiters in Infosys’ Talent Acquisition Unit were expressly instructed by Infosys senior management to favor South Asians over non-South Asians in their recruiting efforts. The recruiter observed that over 90% of the workers Infosys hired and employed within the United States were of South Asian national origin and race (predominately Indian). The recruiter observed senior management make statements indicating Infosys had preference for South Asian hires, with one executive remarking “Americans don’t know shit.”

The second amended complaint also includes updated statistical information about Infosys’ disproportionate employment of South Asian workers (including H-1B workers from India) for large numbers of job positions within the United States.

Please click here, or scroll below, to read the Second Amended Complaint:

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Starting a Business and Have a “Junk” Non-Compete or No Non-Compete With Former Employer? That’s Good, But No Guarantee You’re in the Clear

Some Wisconsin workers consider starting their own business, and make plans for the business before leaving their current employer.  Some such workers have non-compete agreements with their existing employers.  Some don’t.  In either event, you should not assume you are in the clear and will not be sued by the former employer if they think your new business is competitive.  First consider having an attorney review your situation (no, it doesn’t have to be me).  Read more below to learn why.

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Filed under Employee Info/Tips - Litigation - Mediation, Non-Compete Issues

Why Pay an Attorney Consult Fee?

In the employee-rights legal field, it is common for attorneys to charge initial consultation fees in the hundreds of dollars. Some attorneys offer free consultations, although that depends on the attorney, their availability, the type of matter, etc. Such an attorney may set conditions on a free consult, e.g. it can only be by phone, or be under a certain time limit, etc.

My own practice at present is to not charge a fee for initial email or phone communications.  During those initial communications, I try to give a worker a sense of whether there are potential legal claims or issues I could assist with, and if so, whether it is the type of matter for which I could represent the worker on a contingency-fee basis, on another basis involving out-of-pocket fees.  But after the free initial communications, there are some matters for which I provide hours of advice, and charge hundreds of dollars for that advice.

Say an employee rights attorney wants to charge you by the hour for an initial office meeting, which may total several hours and, per market rates, may cost $150 to $500 or more.

Is such a fee worth it? My answer is yes. But I come from the biased perspective of an attorney who is paid fees. (Incidentally, most of my fees do not come from my worker-clients; the majority of earned fees come from via long-term litigation and contingency payments from opponents).  What matters about a consult fee is YOUR sense of value, and what YOU think of an attorneys’ reasons for that fee.  My reasons as to why a consult fee is worth it are listed below.

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Filed under Employee Info/Tips, Employee Info/Tips - Litigation - Mediation, Employee Info/Tips - Pre-Litigation - Considering Compl, Employee Info/Tips - Pre-Litigation - Hiring an Attorne

Polite Hearings, and the Distinction Between the Person and His Conduct

Dogs and Cats Living Together!

Recently I was at a legal hearing.  It was the same old drill in most respects.  Two parties opposed each other.  A boss had fired an employee.  The boss’s testimony opposed the employee’s testimony, and vice versa.  Neither side changed any beliefs when the hearing was over.

But after the hearing, a great thing happened.

After the hearing, I saw my client, the employee, approach the boss that had fired him and now testified against him.  The two men proceeded to shake hands.  Then they stood and talked for awhile.  From the two persons’ body language, I could tell that they liked and respected each other.  I also knew that neither person had changed his mind about the hearing, or about feeling right about his position on the job termination.

These two dynamics– having a big dispute with an opponent, yet liking that opponent– are not contradictory.  Not if disputes are recognized for what they are: a conflict between two views, not a conflict between two persons.

As is often written, it’s important to recognize there’s a distinction between a person and his views.  Between a person and his conduct, or a person and his misconduct, e.g. “hate the sin, love the sinner.”

It’s easy to note these distinctions, and their surface logic that it’s best to be polite and not personalize matters.  But these oft-spoken standards usually go out the window after a legal dispute starts.  More often than not, legal proceedings are made personal and taken personally.

But not this time.  Which is more than good.

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Filed under Employee Info/Tips - Litigation - Mediation, Employee Tip - Considering a Legal Action, Employee Tip - Unemployment, Unemployment - Wisconsin